Sunday - Chew Valley 10k!

So....my alarm went off at 6.30am - very early for me! But I was up and getting ready straight away - didn't want to leave late and put more stress on myself about getting there on time - it was about an hour away.  Andy then appeared and said he was coming with me! yay!!! I really wanted him to come with me but didn't want to put pressure on him to come with me as he is up so early every day with work.  So - he drove (big relief).  I was chatting about the run - saying that the quickest I'd ever ran 10k was 1.09/1.10 so my aim was 1.10 however, I knew that there was a huge hill, and so as long as I got less than 1.15 I'd be happy.  I just wanted to get my first 10k under my belt!

We got there about 8.20am after negotiating tiny little country lanes....as we approached I could see markers saying 6KM and 5KM so I knew we were driving on the route I'd be running...it looked hilly lol.  We eventually got parked - it was very busy! Then I went and got my number and my t-shirt - and then we had ages to wait around - which I hated - I just wanted to get on with it!!  After a big group warm-up we eventually made our way to the start - Andy made his way to the BBQ to get a bacon butty lol.  I ended up near the back - as it is organised in to times - so the people that could run it in less than 40 minutes went at the front! How they can run it in that time I don't know!

When the gun went off it took me over a minute to get to the actual start line - but I had a chip in my number so that didn't matter....and off I went.  Quite slow at first because I couldn't get past the mass of people there....but it was a nice steady pace.  I kept going and at about 3km I had a small breather....I didn't think I was doing well and those first few kilometres were not easy, and at 3km it seems you still have soooo far to go....at about 4.5km we hit "The Hill", I'd chatted a little to the people around me - asking when we'd hit the hill and one woman said she thought it was around 4km....I thought - that's good because it will be downhill after that!  They were giving out jelly babies just before the hill - which I took! and there were water stations - so it was nice to have a bit of water - something I don't usually have on a run!  So - the Hill....it was a killer - I couldn't run up it - and walking up it was really hard - my heart rate was so high even though I was walking - but the ppl that could run up it were not going much faster than me - so I thought - I'll make up the time on the down hill!  Finally got to the top and it took a while to get my breathe back - but I was off again....however, rather than coming down hill there seemed to be more up hill bits! I joked to the people around me about these hills and wanting to know where the down hill was!!  It was not really until about 8km that it started to come down!  There were loads of ppl cheering us on after about 6km which was really nice, primary school kids banging drums and chanting - you can do it! There was a choir! and a bloke with a hose pipe so you could run under the water lol.  It was so cool in the last 2 km - I was running fast! (for me) on the downhill and really felt good! The closer we got to the end - the more you could hear the crowds of ppl and I felt really proud to be a part of it and not just a spectator - was awesome to see signs to say 400m to go - 300m to go...as I turned the corner for the last 100m there were loads of people! My pace was good and I felt strong - and I spotted Andy and managed to wave!  Then I was done!!  Andy met up with me and it was so good that he was there!!  Then I got my medal (and I thought there were no medals on this run so I was dead chuffed!) and then I collected my official time! My chip time was 1.08.30 - so better than I ever though I would do - even though I walked up the hill!! I felt SO HAPPY that I'd done it!!! I loved the atmosphere of it all!! I was so glad Andy had been there to share it with me!

It was also cool to see that Andy and helen had been tracking me from my Map my ride app...and had been having a conversation about how I was doing - Andy had looked up about the course and new where the hill was (roughly) they discussed how I was going quite fast (first 4 km were under 7 minutes each) and then they discussed how I slowed down hugely lol and that I must have hit the hill. Then they saw when I speeded up - and Andy said - She's going for it!!! and I was! hahaha

So, I felt on a complete high afterwards!

By the time we got home I was starving!! and we made a big BLT....and I got a shower - and Andy went in his studio and I was so tired that I went for a sleep! lol

Later we played pool - then watched TV...and bed.

All-in-all an awesome day! :-)

Saturday

Hi...

Today I wanted to cut and fit the floorboards...so Andy helped me - even though I dont think he likes to use his days off for DIY stuff....but it was good team work and using the new saw (which it pretty cool!) we spent all day getting them all cut and in place.  the cats loved playing under the floorboards whilst we were doing this!  Now we just have to tread carefully because they are not screwed down yet and they all need packing to bring them to the same level as the existing ones.  It seems the victorians used 23mm thick planks - and ours are 20mm!

Saturday night - I didn't have much to drink and and got to bed at 12...as I knew I had to leave the house Sunday morning by 7am for the 10k run in Chewvalley.  I had been telling myself not to get nervous - because I know I can run 10k and what is the worst that can happen.  I suppose I was more nervous about getting there, getting parked up and getting organised - got my number okay - all that kinda stuff.....

Thursday/Fri

Oh - these days were quite a while ago now and I not sure if I can remember what I did!!

I know that I was still sanding floors!!!

Thursday night I went to the running club - and there were not many people there so ppl went as one group.  This worried me as I knew that a lot of them were really good runners and I didn't want to slow them down... As it happened - I did! lol.  They have a great attitude though and make allowances for runners that are not as good.  There was one other woman called Flo, who went about my pace, so that made it a bit easier to be at the back all the time not on my own! 

There was a big hill that the others could run up without stopping that was too difficult for me and Flo but we gave it our best shot and when we got to the top we got a round of applause lol.  So it was hard but I enjoyed it.  I'm going to go again on a Tuesday because lots more ppl turn up and they ahve lots of different groups at different levels...

Andy got back from London not long after I had got back from running....he'd not had a good day with one of his team having a bad attitude with him in a meeting...so he spoke about that for a while - then we got food cooked and chilled out with a glass of wine - and then got to bed.

Friday - I decided to start laying the new floor boards.  I quickly decided that I needed something adequate to cut the wood rather than a hand saw - especially as I had to cut them length ways - about 3 metres! So I went out and bought a table saw.  I then spent the rest of the day putting it up - took me over 3 hours and I was not happy that my day had been written off - just assembling it! By the time Andy finished work I was growling!!!  He helped me finish it off and then I got a shower and we ordered food! Moody burger lol.  So - not good as we have been staying away from take-out....anyway - was a nice evening - but as Andy is working so hard - he was falling asleep fairly early so we got to bed.